The present invention relates generally to measurement systems and more specifically it relates to an image data capture and processing system, consisting of a digital imaging device, computer and software that generates correction data sets from which real world coordinate information with planarity, scale, aspect, and innate dimensional qualities can be extracted from the captured image in order to extract real dimensional data from the imaged objects.
In the following specification, we use the name Non-Orthographic Measurement System or Quantified Image Measurement System to refer to a system that extracts real world coordinate accurate 2-dimensional data from non-orthographically imaged objects. This includes not just extracting accurate real world measurements but also data that can be used to determine any measurement of a 2-dimensions surface of an object within the orthographically or non-orthographically imaged portion of the object's two dimensional surface.
This invention eliminates a key problem of electronic distance measurement tools currently in the market: the need for the measurement taker to transcribe measurements and create manual associations with photos, drawings, blueprints, or sketches. Additionally these same devices typically only capture measurements one at a time and do not have the ability to share the information easily or seamlessly with other systems that can use the measurement data for additional processing. With the advent of mobile devices equipped with megapixel digital cameras, this invention provides a means to automatically calculate accurate physical measurements between any of the pixels or sets of pixels within the photo. The system preferably can use nearly any image format including but not limited to JPEG, TIFF, BMP, PDF, GIF, PNG, EXIF and enhances the image file with measurement data and data transformation information that enables the creation of any type of geometrical or dimensional measurement from the stored photograph. This file containing the original digital image along with the supplemental data is referred to as a Quantified Image File (“QIF”).
The QIF can be shared with other systems via email, cloud syncing or other types of sharing technology. Once shared, existing systems such as CAD applications or web/cloud servers can use the QIF and the associated QIF processing software routines to extract physical measurement data and use the data for subsequent processing or building geometrically accurate models of the objects or scene in the image. Additionally smart phones and other portable devices can use the QIF to make measurements on the spot or share between portable devices. While some similar systems may purport to extract measurements from image files, they differ from the present invention by requiring the user to capture the picture from a particular viewpoint, most commonly from the (orthographic) viewpoint that is perpendicular to the scene or objects to be measured. The Quantified Image Measurement System of this invention eliminates the need for capturing the image from any particular viewpoint by using multiple reference points and software algorithms to correct for any off-angle distortions.
There is a need for an improved optical system for measuring tools which extract dimensional information of objects imaged from non-orthographical viewing angle(s) and allows for later extraction of additional measurements without reimaging of the object.